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President Donald Trump, left, arrives with other world leaders for a family photo taken during the G20 summit in HamburgCredit:
AFP/Getty Images

Amid the general sense of ruin and rising geopolitical tension, G20 leaders meeting in Hamburg at the weekend could at least congratulate themselves on one thing; by luck more than design, the world economy has entered a synchronised growth phase. All three of the world’s regional economic powerhouses – North America, Europe and China – are growing in unison.

This has in turn raised the prospect of retreat from the ultra-low interest rates and central bank money printing of recent years. The US Federal Reserve has already raised rates a couple of times; with the US economy still growing at a fair old clip, another is likely in the autumn, notwithstanding the absence so far of the promised Trump...